Why do dehumidifiers turn off and stop collecting water? This is something that callers ask us over and over again. I think that once someone has invested in a dehumidifier they want it to collect water on a daily basis and they are disappointed when it stops collecting water. Before I explain why the dehumidifier not collecting water is perfectly normal lets switch to another piece of equipment that we use in the house that we have a greater understanding of – our central heating.
An explanation – with the aid of the central heating example.
When we set the thermostat to say 22°C our radiators become hot, if we were to put our hands on the radiator later and found it to be lukewarm or cool then we would not think that the radiator is faulty, we would just accept that the room temperature is up to 22°C and the radiator has been turned off by the stat. We know that when the room temperature drops the radiators will turn on again and they will once more be hot to the touch.
Back to the dehumidifier and the same thing is happening, albeit in reverse. You select your set point and the dehumidifier dries the air down to this point, when the relative humidity falls below this level the dehumidifier stops working. When the relative humidity rises again the dehumidifier will turn itself on and start to collect water again.
Hopefully that makes sense and you now know why your dehumidifier sometimes stops working.
Products featured: dehumidifiers
311 responses
I have a Meaco 20 Lt Low energy dehumidifier. It is marking 99 and not extracting water. What could be wrong?
Maria
Maria,
Thank you for your purchase, whether this is a fault depends on whether the fan is running when you see the high numbers. Please call the office on 01483 234900 so they can help you.
Chris
Hi Chris
My dehumidifier will not turn on. Not even the power light. I have had it for a year and no problems. It is in my gym which is part of the garage converted. Any ideas?
David,
If this is a Meaco dehumidifier then please call the office on 01483 234900 and customer service will help you get sorted.
Chris
Chris Michael – may I ask you a question? I bought the DD8L junior desiccant dehumidifier. Occasionally I’ve fallen asleep near it while it’s running and have woken up with a sore throat and a cough. Can dehumidifiers affect people’s lungs? I have no allergies or breathing difficulties. I wondered if there could be a connection.
I would not sleep too close to the machine but no there is no link between dehumidifiers and lung issues. Perhaps you are drying the air to too low a humidity, try moving the machine further away from you and turning the humidistat up.
Chris
Hello,
I have a Meaco 20L (YL2120) which I believe has developed a fault.
When initially switched on it defaults to “clothes drying” mode and “high speed fan” and appears to operate as normal collecting water into the container. You can also set the timer.
If you then switch it to any of the “tear drops” the fan stops and only the timer and power.indicator leds’ are illuminated.
Would this be a control board or power supply fault.?
Kind regards
Paul
Paul,
Thank you for your message. This fault normally means that it is not getting a signal back from the humidity and temperature sensor and is just running continuously. It can often be reset by unplugging the dehumidifier for 15 minutes. If you continue to have problems then please do call the office on 01483 234900.
Chris
Hello Chris,
Many thanks for your kind reply.
Will be in touch.
Paul
we purchased a DD8L desiccant dehumidifier in Sept 2015 which apart from a slight problem with the collection tray has operated as expected. Two days ago (17/11/18) it was switched on to assist in drying some washing in a small room. It was stood alongside the washing, plugged in, switched on, set at “Normal”, fan set a Medium” and left to do its business. A couple of hours later, it had stopped working, there was a small amount of condensation in the tank, but no indications (eg lights) showing on the control panel. So far, attempts to restart the machine have failed, there are still no lights showing on the panel. The fuse in the plug has been checked and is OK. the air filter has also been cleaned. Using a hair dryer, the fan can be seen to rotate and then gradually stops following removal of the blower
In your opinion what appears to be the problem? Is there a solution?
Bill,
Thank you for your purchase and your email. Please call the office on 01483 234900 and if we can get you up and running again we will.
Chris
Hi.
I used my Meaco 12l dehumidifier last year and it worked perfectly fine.
However this time it appears to be working in the exact same way (turning itself off and on as required) but is not collecting any water?
It has previously taken away almost all condensation from my windows, but this time it’s taking away nothing?
Thanks,
James
James,
Thank you for your purchase and your message. This is probably to do with the set point that you have the dehumidifier on and the colder overnight temperatures we have recently had. please use the up and down arrow to set the relative humidity to 40%rh and see how that goes. Also make sure that the filter is clean. if you are still concerned then please do call us on 01483 234900.
Chris
Hi,
I have a Meaco DD8L Junior which is working fine, however I do have a question. Sometimes the dehumidifier runs for a while and then switches off only to restart a few seconds later, it then runs for a while and switches off and stays of for maybe 20-30 minutes. Is this normal?
Kind regards,
John.
John,
As long as the machine is collecting water and turning on and off when the humidity has been reached then all sounds fine. The 30 minute cycle is all about testing the humidity in the room once the relative humidity has been reached. Sometimes the fan is so quiet it is hard to tell if it is on.
Chris
I have 6 of these Meaco DD8L Juniors for use in rental properties…..where can I download/read instructions to give to tenants. Tenants complain that they stop workiing even when moisture laden air and an exclamation mark lights up.
I have no original paperwork that may have arrived inside boxes equipment was given direct to tenants and now I assume lost. Can you help me please?
All about 2 years old approx
Beryl
Beryl,
The link to the manual is here – https://www.meaco.com/pdfs/Meaco%20DD8L%20Junior%20Dehumidifier%20instruction%20manual_July_2015.pdf
If you are having problems with any of the machines then please do contact the office on 01483 234900 and we will repair them for you.
Chris
I have just purchased the Meaco DD8L Junior I have it in my external garage to keep the moisture down on the tin roof so far so good as the droplets of water on the roof has gone slightly it was running in laundry mode all last night.
But last night and this afternoon the just switched off with no lights showing on on the top panel so I just restarted it twice now.
Is it normal or is there a fault as my garage as I said is external an not attached to my bungalow unless I keep going down there I don’t if it comes back but I thought in laundry mode it should run continually, the humidity in my garage is 89% but did drop to 71% at the time of running.
Thanks
Steve
Steve,
Thank you for your purchase. In Laundry Mode it switches off after 6 hours. Please use the humidistat mode and select the ‘Thumbs Up’ 50%rh option. This will keep down your running costs and will allow it to run 24/7.
Chris
Hello, I have a 12ltr low energy dehumidifier, I’ve had about 3 days. Tonight the machine sound went quieter so I went to have a look and I found the defrost light showed up RED for about 30 seconds, the machine is still running but it sounds quieter. I cannot find anything about the defrost light turning Red. Is this normal ?
Thank you
Mrs Hunt,
That is normal and it is all part of the process, the change in noise is because the compressor has been turned off temporarily.
Nothing to worry about.
Chris
Hi there
Is there a problem with my dehumidifier?
I have the 12L low energy
it is running constantly at higher RH than what I have set but is no longer collecting water?
where as before it would run to the designated RH set and then shut off until the humidity rose enough again and then would kick in as normal
however this is now not happeneing?
it seems to just run all the time while not collecting any water
thankyou
Aaron
Aaron,
Thank you for your message. When you press the down button a number flashes up for five seconds, is this number lower than the number you normally see on the display? If not then this is the reason why no water is being collected.
If that is not to blame then clean the filter, throw the HEPA filter away if it is grey and press the up arrow until you see CO on the display. Let the machine run for a day or so and if the number on the display is higher than 40 then you should see water, if you don’t then call us please on 01483234900.
Chris
Hi Chris
Do we know if Aaron’s problem was resolved following your suggestion as I’m experiencing the exact same problem. I’ve set the RH to 60% but the device has been running continuously for over 24 hours with the display showing between 85 and 89 and no water collecting in the tank. The filter is clean and I therefore can’t think what might be wrong. It’s only been about a month since I got this new 12L.
If you still have an issue then please call us on 01483234900 so that we can sort it for you.
My meadow dehumidifier i seems to be confused. I switch it on the fan comes on as you say and the reading today is about 90 . Yen is quickly falls to 60 but I know the humidity in the house is higher as I have a weather station reading and also I suffer asthma so know when it’s about 60 or above. The Medco works for a reading drops but fan still runs but it is not collecting water. It doesn’t turn itself to standby just keeps on with fan. Is there a master reset I can push.
Thanks
Kim,
I think what you are saying is that you have a Meaco dehumidifier is showing a relative humidity of 60%rh when the fan runs but you are not seeing any water. Could you call us please on 01483 234900 so that we can go through the settings with you to see what target humidity you have it set to and how often you are running the machine for. we would be happy to help.
Chris
I have my dehumidifier set on continuous. It starts and shows the humidity then after a minute or 2 it stops. All the lights turn off but the number displays around 50, this number goes down and the fan remains on. Any ideas as to why and how to get it back to normal or is this normal?
Lewis,
Press the button below the display once and a number will flash up for 5 seconds. This is the number that the machine sees as a target, setting it to 50 would be sensible. The machine will turn off when the humidity goes 3%rh below that set point.
Chris
My dehumidifier stopps working sometimes on the set point, but then when it stopped, it goes up to 70 and doesn’t start working again? It also shows 47 when the set point is 50. I don’t really understand
Carins,
Thank you for your message and your purchase. The difference in reading will be because when the target humidity has been reached the fan turns off and the sensor is then just reading the humidity inside the dehumidifier so you see a much higher reading because it is cold and wet inside the dehumidifier. The machine does not turn on because it knows that this is a reading that it can ignore and it only takes notice of the room humidity when it turns the fan back on.
Hope that makes sense, your dehumidifier is fine.
regards
Chris
Hi, mine has the same issue, but the tan doesn’t stop. Basically is not collecting water marking 70 with the fan on all day long
Best to call our support team on 01483 234900 so that they can talk you through it.
Hi, I have MeacoDryABC 12L and it was all working good but stopped collecting water in last some days.
When I turn on and the fan is on it shows 78 and when I press the button under display the number stays the same which 78
Please just try that again please as when you check the humidity set point it will be a number in a multiple of 5.